


Late at Night

by Ivyfics (ivannab)



Series: All Hours of the Day [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Character Study?, Fluff, Getting Together, Late Night Calls, M/M, Maybe - Freeform, Mutual Pining, kei is a sleepy babe basically, kuroo loves it, pining!Kuroo, pining!Tuskki, prompt, really short, the mug fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-04
Updated: 2017-03-12
Packaged: 2018-09-28 05:17:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10073786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ivannab/pseuds/Ivyfics
Summary: "You didn't hear a thing I said, did you?" Kuroo snickered, voice coming out a bit distorted over the line. His laptop had been abandoned on a corner of the bed, his half-finished essay staring at him while his phone laid on his chest, the call on speaker."That would imply that I actually listen to you when I'm awake." The delivery was a little off thanks to the haze of sleep and it wasn't the best, but at least it had come out clear. He was supposed to be finishing some work for college, a presentation and an essay.There was a huffed laugh. "So you don't deny it," said Kuroo, not fooled.A couple of years back–hell, even just a year ago– a midnight call with Nekoma's old captain would have been nonexistent. Things were different now.





	1. Oops

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is my first fic, so if you see any mistakes please let me know!
> 
> This is based of the prompt "Things you said without meaning to."

He was floating, kinda. He was warm and comfortable while a murmur went around him, lulling him into the softness at his back.

“Tsuukiiiiiiii,” the voice on the other end whined, breaking him away from the stupor that had lowered his lids and settled on his limbs. “Did you fall asleep on me?”

Light seared his eyes as they burst open. The heaviness that had settled over him eased, but some of it still still clung to the edges of vision. “No.”

"You didn't hear a thing I said, did you?" Kuroo snickered, voice coming out a bit distorted over the line. His laptop had been abandoned on a corner of the bed, his half-finished essay staring at him while his phone laid on his chest, the call on speaker.

"That would imply that I actually listen to you when I'm awake." The delivery was a little off thanks to the haze of sleep and it wasn't the best, but at least it had come out clear. He was supposed to be finishing some work for college, a presentation and an essay.  _I'll finish it, I'm just resting my eyes._

There was a huffed laugh. "So you don't deny it," said Kuroo, not fooled.

A couple of years back–hell, even just a year ago–a midnight call with Nekoma's old captain would have been nonexistent. Things were different now. 

They had started talking again after running into each other a couple of months prior, back when Tsukki had just moved to Tokyo for college. His second semester had started a couple of weeks ago and already he was pulling late nights and drinking way too much caffeine. Moving away from home and Yamaguchi to pursue his Palaeontology major had been worth it, but those first weeks away from home and friends had been harder than he’d thought. After three years of dealing with the volleyball freaks, and his position as captain in the third one, he had grown less prickly about the people back in Miyagi.

Literally crashing into Kuroo and Bokuto on a conbini run was a godsend, the rush of seeing familiar faces overpowering the dread of realising his first-year crush on Kuroo had not diminished one bit. If anything, his crush was worse now. So much worse.

Back then Kuroo was a cocky but hot upperclassman that irritated him as much as he found him attractive. Training camp was like the cliff-notes version of Kuroo. Or the blurb at the back of the book accompanied by a photo of that ridiculous bedhead.

An illusion. The idea of how a person is.

Now, Kuroo was... real, in a sense.

Once they had seen each other enough to get past the whole  bullshit layer Kuroo piled on top of his actual personality, the one that loved getting the rise out of people and turned everything into a joke, he found that while he was attracted to how that bullshit looked and could play off it more often than not, he liked what he found in the center a lot more.The blurb was interesting enough to open the book, but the actual book was a thousand times better than described. He really really liked the book.  _He might love the book. He wanted to take the book home. Maybe make out with it a little._

Keeping his own salty layer of bullshit in place was becoming increasingly difficult. He started trying not to think about it– _it_ being his feelings–but having Kuroo always around made that a challenge. Endless random texts at all hours including, but not limited to, Kuroo’s one-liners and terrible pick up lines which he found _funny and adorable_ , and study sessions at either his place or Kuroo and Bokuto’s shared apartment made sure the old Nekoma captain was in his head or vicinity almost 24/7.

Somehow they ended up hanging out together aside from those study sessions too. Most of the time at Kei's place, Kuroo using the fact that His Main Bro was ditching him for some alone time with Akaashi as a reason to just come over and do nothing. He didn’t realise how often those days were until Kuroo showed up one day, two mugs in hand. He held them proudly, like trophies, a black cat one on his right and a blue one with tiny Stegosaurus lining the bottom on his left.

 

> _“For all our coffee needs~ Mine is a cat, obviously, and yours has that spiky dino that you like.”_
> 
>   _“What? Why?”_
> 
>   _“Tsukki! You have no mugs! Ever since Bo dropped one a couple of weeks ago you only have the one and one of us always ends up drinking coffee in a glass. That’s just wrong. It’s barbaric. Now I’ve got my own for when I come over.“_
> 
>   _"Ok? But, why the other one?”_
> 
>   _“Oh! To replace the one Bo killed. I saw it and remembered the figurines in your windowsill. The one with the spikes is your favorite, right?”_

It had snowballed into something a lot bigger than he'd expected. He had never imagined that it would come to a point when a day he _doesn't_ see or hear from Kuroo Tetsurou is weird. These late night calls were a recent addition to the routine, now that their schedules had filled out considerably and separate late nights were the norm.

He started floating again, slowly. A quiet _clink_ and some typing coming from the phone on his chest kept him from drifting completely. The was a small sigh and then “Tsukki? You still there?”

It took him a moment to realise he had to respond.

"Yeah,” it came out low and muffled and Kei shook himself a little, trying to rid himself of the heaviness filling his mouth with cotton.

A chuckle came over the line, Kuroo’s voice going soft after it. “You’ve been getting almost no sleep these past couple of days. Why don’t you go to bed, take tonight off?”

Kuroo had a nice voice. It was nicer this late at night, a bit rough from using it all day. Even better when he was focused on something, when he didn't have enough energy to make it teasing or hide the softness that laid underneath the jabs and provocations.

It was hard, answering. His thoughts and his mouth barely connecting, not enough to explain full in sentences. He just let his mouth take over, his brain out for the count. “Can’t. Essay.”

Kuro snorted. “Even if you stay up you won’t get anything done like this. That one’s not due for a couple of days, right? Can’t you take the morning off tomorrow and finish it? “

“Early class. Asshole teacher.”

Kuroo seemed to think about it for a bit. “Hmm. I still got a couple more hours work on this lab, how about you take a nap and I wake you when I’m done. I’ll call you on your cell and have it screech you awake.”

He huffed out a breath at that, remembering how Kuroo had sneakily changed his ringtone to a loop of loud cat cries a day after Kei had left his phone on silent and missed a couple of his calls. It would have been funny, had Kuroo not called him when he knew Kei was in the middle of class the day after.

Still, even after giving Kuroo the cold shoulder for a couple days after just to be cross, Tsukki had kept it. It made him think of Kuroo every time it rang, and if that meant dealing with people staring at him strangely when he took a call, that was something he was apparently all too willing to deal with. Kuroo was right, though. His brain felt like mush and he wasn’t sure he could physically open his eyes, much less pull himself off of a horizontal position.

Also, a wakeup call from Kuroo.

_God, I'm in too deep._

Kei shifted, burrowing a little more into his sheets before spewing a sleepy, “Alright. 'Night. I love you.“

It took a second or two for his sleep addled mind to catch up with his mouth. When his words finally hit he shot up from the bed, his knuckles white on the sheets.

_Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fu– Maybe he didn’t hear it, maybe I can still play it off._

He turned to look at his phone on the comforter. It had landed face down and the sounds from the other end were muffled but very much there and if the tone of them were anything to go by, Kuroo had heard loud and clear and playing it off wasn’t really in the cards anymore. Kei did the only thing he could think of. He hung up and shut his phone off.


	2. Wait

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kuroo's side

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I decided to split this work into 3 parts instead of 2, so keep an eye out for that. I'm currently on vacation so I don't know when I'll be posting again. 
> 
> I had to type this on my tiny ass phone, so typos might be present. Let me know what you think!

Bo was on the couch, earphones in and eyes buried forward. On his screen was a tiny Akaashi, spine curved over his sketchbook and looking rougher than Kuroo had seen the boy in a while.

“Anyway, the teacher was brutal. By the time she reached the end of her slides she was almost in tears.”

Kuroo kept a steady pace on his keyboard, answering a question in the chat for one of his group projects. A little scowl appeared on his face as he kept going, “There really wasn’t a need for that, he just really likes going after female students. We all noticed and we’re all pissed about it, so we just want to do well enough to not have the girls in our group deal with that ass.”

Tsuki had been quiet for a while, just listening to Kuroo talk. Too quiet. Kuroo’s eyes narrowed, shifting his gaze from his computer screen to the phone on his desk.

“Tsuukiiiiiiii, did you fall asleep on me?”

A quiet “No” came over the line a moment later, slurred enough to give the blond away.

“You didn't hear a thing I said, did you?", Kuroo felt a smile crawl up his face. Tsukki had been getting very little sleep lately, trying to keep up with assignments and the upcoming midterms. His schedule was packed and his goal was to at least finish an essay today so he could get a bit of breathing room before exams.

Kuroo on the other hand had a lab due the day after next and a study group meeting for tomorrow, so it was a late night for both of them.

"That would imply that I actually listen to you when I'm awake.”

_Ah, there it is_

Even on the verge of exhaustion, Tsukki’s salt came to play. A laugh burst from him before he could stop it, following with a “So you don’t deny it.”

_So fucking adorable_

He had been thinking that about the blond more often. Every quick shutdown or grimace just seemed so incredibly _cute_ now.

Before Tsukki was just an old aquaintance with a pretty face. Alright, a beautiful face. And gorgeous legs, and that as–

_Nope. Don’t go there._

Kuro had been having these...thoughts about Tsukki for a very long time now. All kinds of thoughts. The most recent ones involved holding a certain boy’s hand while they watched a movie.

_Wow. How scandalous, Tetsurou. You want to hold a pretty boy’s hand._

But hoping to do that and Tsukki not only allowing it but wanting to do so as well was another kind of beast.

Okay, so maybe there were a moment or two that gave him a bit of hope on that end. An almost fond look when he was knew he was being obnoxious, how they could play off each other without a second thought, and how he had never seen him drink out of anything else since he gave him that damn mug.

Finding the thing was completely random. He was on his way home when he saw it on the storefront of a small shop. The shop seemed to carry an odd assortment of things, not really sticking to a particular type of product. In fact, the only reason he could think of why it would even be there is that the color of it matched the overall palette of the display. All he saw was the dino pattern at the bottom and how it was the exact silhouette of the figurine Tsukki unconsciously picked up every now and then. He didn’t even process buying it until he was leaving the shop, porcelain neatly protected by cardboard.

Figuring out how to give it to him without raising suspicion was another thing. He had never just given Tsukki something out of the blue with a _‘thought of you_ ’ before. Just giving it to him outright felt weird.

_Here, I got you this because I saw it and thought you’d like it so I couldn’t stop myself from getting it for you. I keep thinking about you. Like, all the time. Also, I kind of like you. A lot. Which is really funny because I didn’t even know I also liked boys until I saw you at training camp and–_

Yeah. Weird.

The thing had been hiding in the back of his dresser for the better part of two weeks before Bokuto gave him the perfect opening. A plan came up and it took him a while to find the perfect matching crockery.

A black cat. _A little piece of me in your home._

_Jesus, that’s lame. So lame Tetsu, get a fucking grip._

Then the late night calls came into his life. They already hung out a lot, but there was something different about this.

He was also incredibly grateful they had started doing it because while prickly Tsukki was great, sleepy Tsukki was so fucking incredible. Specially because every now and then it ended with him promising a wake-up call which was ten times better because then he got just-woken-up Tsukki that was somehow soft and spoke in low tones and gruff and just perfect.

The only downside was a lot more cold showers. _If I didn’t have a voice kink before, I definitely have one now._

This was good. This was fine.

He didn’t exactly mind where they were, and while the prospect of more was a heavenly thing he _loved_ what they had now. Which was a thing he was admitting to himself now, apparently.

Having feelings for your new best friend was probably not the best idea.

A message from his study group chat popped up, asking if they were still on for getting together the next day, breaking his train of thought.

He sighed a bit, picked up his lukewarm coffee and put it back down after a horrid encounter with his tongue.

He focused back on his lab for a while until he remembered he was supposed to be keeping Tsukki awake, and Tsukki had been suspiciously quiet. Again.

The late nights had been taking their toll on the first year and Kuroo really just wanted him to take the night off. He sighed, “Tsukki, you still there?”

Silence answered back, followed by something that sounded like an affirmative. _Adorable_.

“You’ve been getting almost no sleep these past couple of days. Why don’t you go to bed, take tonight off?”

“Can’t. Essay.”, Tsukki’s voice was low and riddled with sleep. From experience Kuroo knew it got that way minutes before the other conked out.

_I wonder how my name would sound like if you said it like that._

It also meant that a couple of prods here and there and he’d get Tsukki to not only get a full night’s sleep but also sneak in a wake-up call.

He snorted. Loud. Just enough volume to catch Tsukki’s attention. “Even if you stay up you won’t get anything done like this. That one’s not due for a couple of days, right? Can’t you take the morning off tomorrow and finish it? “

_Just a little more_

“Early class. Asshole teacher.” It was said slower, followed by the sound of a deep exhale. A grin crawled up Kuroo’s face.

_And now for the cherry on top_

He pretended to think about it, faking a hum.“Hmm. I still got a couple more hours work on this lab, how about you take a nap and I wake you when I’m done. I’ll call you on your cell and have it screech you awake.”

The grin on his face wide now, he started stretching his arms over his head. He turned, looking back at Bokuto who was still deep in thought staring at Akaashi drawing.

Tsukki’s voice rose from his desk, “Alright.’ Night. I love you.”

Nothing. There was nothing, like his head was suddenly emptied. 

His mouth was dry, his chest trying to expand while his lungs burned and he _couldn’t_ _fucking_ _breathe._

And just like that, he broke. He lunged for the phone knocking over a pile of paper in the process and brought it up to his ear, gripping it as hard as he could.

“Wha–Tsukki. Tsukki. I mean-”

There was nothing coming from the other side, not even the deep exhales from before that signaled that Tsukki was deep asleep and this was a- a slip up, a mix up, anything.

He lept up from his desk chair, hand slamming on the corner and shaking everything from the force. He registered a soft “Bro?” coming from the other side of  
the room.

“Tsukki. Say something. Tsukki, please. _Kei_.” He brought his other hand up to his hair, fingers tangling on the dark strands. “Tsukki, I lo–”

And then a click. He stood there, staring at the screen a call ended message blinking at him.

A warm hand fell on his shoulder, grounding him. Bokuto was at his back now, earphones still on his ears and hanging limply. He looked concerned, his brows a bit pinched while he looked at Kuroo.

Further back Akaashi was also staring at him through the webcam. He looked more confused than worried and there was a smudge of what seemed to be charcoal staining his cheek.

“Bro, you okay? Is Tsukki okay?”  
  
The mention of the blond brought back the panic from before. He started for the door, grabbing his keys and shrugging on his jacket on the genkan.

“Kubro?” Bokuto called, his head tilted to the side, hands on his hips.

“It’s fine. I gotta go see Tsukki”, he said not bothering to look up at his best friend.

“Kuroo-san it’s almost one in the morning. And cold”, Akaashi spoke up.

Kuroo stopped at that. He kept his gaze on his feet for a second or two before looking at Akaashi. Or at Bo’s laptop that had Akaashi. He clenched his fist at his side, “Shit. Man, I don’t know I just”–he paused, taking a deep breath to calm down–”I have to go.”

The walk there was cold, Kuroo warming up as he started to jog. He kept calling Tsukki’s phone, kept getting voicemail. By the time he got there, he was sweaty, his hair worse than usual from running his fingers through it. He had two-day old clothes and he was pretty sure he looked like shit before he ran ten blocks in the middle of the night.

He didn’t care. Kuroo bounded up the small stairs that led up to Tsukki’s door. Tripping a little, he knocked, phone still in his hand.

He did the only thing he could think of. He waited.

 


	3. I want mine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally

The dripping coming from underneath the sink echoed around the room. Underneath his feet the mat was still wet from the shower he had earlier, his feet running nervously up and down the fabric.

Tsukki sat on his toilet lid with his phone pressed against his ear and his hand tightening on his thigh.

Finally, there was a click.

“Hey Tsukki”, a yawn floated over from the other end of the line.

“Kuroo is outside”

There was a beat of silence.

“...Let him in?”, Yamaguchi rasped.

“No no no, Tadashi. Kuroo is _outside_.” Tsukki replied immediately, as if that explained everything.

“Wow, first name right off the bat. Okay, I’m going to assume there’s a reason why Kuroo-san being outside is making you use your freak out voice. Why is he outside at one in the morning, Tsukki?” , Yamaguchi’s voice was rough. He was probably already asleep when the call went through.

Somehow (and Tsukki hadn’t fully discarded black magic) Yamaguchi had managed to avoid all-nighters and late nights for most of his college career so far.

“I told him I loved him.” Tsukki spat out, saying it as if he had stabbed him instead.

“Oh.”

He waited for Yamaguchi to continue, but nothing came.

“Oh? What do you mean ‘Oh’? I’m telling you I told the guy I’ve had a crush on since first year of high school that I love him and all you have to say is ‘Oh’. What the fuck Yamaguchi?”, Tsukki hissed.

At that Yamaguchi laughed, making him grind his teeth together.

“I mean, this is not news. You’re pretty obvious, I still don’t know how he hadn’t realised. So, what did he say?”

Yamaguchi sounded amused. _Does he not see this is an emergency?_

Tsukki mumbled, looking away even if Yamaguchi couldn’t see him blushing.

“I’m sorry, what?”

Tsukki cleared his throat and said, “I don’t know. I-uhm-hung up.”

“You told him over the phone?!”

“It slipped out! I was almost asleep and he kept talking and I just…”, Tsukki yelped, lowering his voice at the end, embarrassed.

“Ooooh”, understanding dawning on Yamaguchi’s tone.

“Yeah, ooooh!”, Tsukki slapped his knee as he said it. _Finally_!

“Wait, so you accidentally told him you loved him and then hung up? And now he’s outside and you’re just there talking to me? Tsukki!”, the scold in Yamaguchi’s tone reached his ears and made his blush intensify.

“I’m not just ‘there’”, Tsukki said mimicking Yamaguchi’s tone. “I’m in the bathroom.”

“You’re in the bathr—You know, I think I get it now.”

“You do?”, Tsukki said, relief flooding him.

“Yeah”–he started, that amused tone creeping into his words again–”I finally get why you were such a shit to me in third year when I kept flitting about Yachi. Thank you for that.”

Yamaguchi had been dating the old Karasuno manager for about a year and a half. Back in third year, Yamaguchi had been a mess about his crush on the girl, and Kei had been very impatient about his best friend’s very obviously requited love.

“Yamaguchi”, desperation dripping from the word.

“No, listen to me”, his tone was final. “You accidentally confessed over the phone, half asleep, and then you just hung up–which was a very dick move, by the way– and what does he do? He goes to where you are in the middle of the night. Stop for a second and calm down. Then, get your head out of your ass, let him in and, I don’t know, make out. You got that?”

Tsukki sighed, defeated. Yamaguchi had always been able to stop him in his tracks and set him straight. He didn’t think his best friend was right this time, but he had helped calm him down.

After a minute or two he said, “Shut up Yamaguchi.”

It didn’t mean shut up. It hadn’t in years. It really meant ‘ I got it , thank you, I’m sorry’ . He knew Yamaguchi understood that.

“Not sorry, Tsukki. G’night.” came over the line, and he could just tell the freckled boy was grinning.

“Night Dashi”, he added, knowing how happy his best friend got when Tsukki used the nickname.

Around twenty minutes had passed since the first knock on Tsukki’s door. After stepping back a little (and Yamaguchi’s intervention) he could admit he had panicked a bit.

_More like the biggest freak out since starting college. I just don’t want him to hate me, I don’t care if he doesn’t see me that way. I don’t want to lose what we have now._

Tsukki rested his head on his hands, elbows on his knees and took deep breaths. There hadn’t been another knock after that first one, but he was sure Kuroo was still there.

It was like him to know when not to push. After a final exhale he stood up and headed to the door. He could do this.

_Please don’t hurt me._

Bracing himself, he opened the door. Kuroo was there leaning against the railing, with reddened cheeks and breaths coming out in little white puffs. It was cold as hell and Kuroo had been out there for a while in what seemed to be a light jacket.

“Tsukki–”, Kuroo started, but Kei cut him off with a “Shit!”

Grabbing the front of Kuroo’s jacket while trying to keep most of his body inside the heat of his apartment, Tsukki pulled him in while scolding, “It’s freezing, get in here! Are you trying to get sick? Knock until they let you in when it’s this cold, idiot.”

Shutting the door behind him, he all but tossed Kuroo on the couch before storming into his bedroom.

He made his way back to living room with an armful of blankets, embarrassment replaced by guilt and worry.

Tsukki dumped all the blankets on Kuroo. Kuroo’s mouth opened as if to say something but Tsukki was already halfway to the kitchen.

He grabbed the first mug he could find and filled it with some coffee he made for his study session earlier, grateful he had forgotten to turn the coffeemaker off.

Adding some sugar, he went back to the living room and set the steaming cup on the coffee table in front Kuroo. Dropping to the floor in front of the couch he said, “Drink that.”

Kuroo only stared at him, giving Tsukki a chance to finally give him a closer look. Usually his hair was disheveled in a way that made him look effortlessly hot. Right now it resembled a bird's nest that had crashed into a sledgehammer, and if this were a normal hang out he would tease Kuroo within an inch of his life about it.

The red from the cold had started to dissipate, leaving Kuroo a lot paler than he was used to seeing him and the craters under his eyes were a recent addition.

“You look like shit”,Tsukki said before he could stop himself.

There was a small laugh from the couch. Kuroo had wrapped himself in the blankets, one of them draped around him like a cape while the others laid bunched up in his lap. He was looking at Tsukki with a weird look on his face, something between amusement and confusion.

Pointing at the coffee table with a blanketed arm he said, “I can’t drink from this. It’s yours.”

“What?” Tsukki turned to look at the table, noticing the small stegosaurus lining the bottom of the cup. His head snapped to Kuroo’s immediately.

_Because it’s mine? He’s grossed out, isn’t he. He hat–_

“I want mine”, Kuro whined, “I have to drink from mine when I’m here, that’s what it’s for. I want my cat.”

A wave of relief coursed through him at that. Fixing his glasses where they had slid off he said, “What are you, five?”

Still, he got up towards the kitchen. Grabbing the cat from it’s place in the cupboards, he added Kuroo’s usual drink (coffee, two sugars) and brought it back to the raven.

Kuroo took the black mug from him with hands outstretched and immediately took a sip. His eyelids fluttered closed at the warmth and stayed that way.

Everything seemed normal. Kuroo didn’t seem to be mad even though he understood that what Tsukki said was serious. He doubted Kuroo would have made the trip to his place at this hour otherwise.

So, not mad. Not grossed out enough to never want to see him again, which was something he had been familiar with in the past.

Now that Kuroo was inside and not freezing, the panic was starting to breathe in Tsukki’s chest again. Fear tensed his muscles and quickened his breath.

Kuroo was staring into his mug now, not looking up at Tsukki. He would be kind about this, he figured. He would look at him with a smile and pity and tell him that it was impossible, that Kuroo would never feel that way and that the friendship was over and that he was sorry but—

“Hey Tsukki.”

Kuroo still wasn’t looking at him. _I’m sorry I ruined this for the both of us._

It felt like something had died in his throat, swollen and dry. Somehow he managed to croak out a “Yeah”, thankful that it wasn’t as shaky as he felt.

“I can’t do this. Let’s not.”

He tightened his jaw trying his best to hold back the burning behind his eyes. He was not going to cry and make Kuroo feel bad about this. He would cry when he was alone like everyone else.

“All this pretending… “, Kuroo mused.

Tsukki’s blood ran cold at that. Did he think Tsukki was pretending to be his friend, that everything had been fake? All to get closer to him? Anger began to coil through his core, but Kuroo continued before he could say anything he might regret.

“I have something to say now, so please listen.” Kuroo was looking at him now, gaze piercing. He took a deep breath before starting.

“I lied. More recently last week, but a lot in general. I’m pretty popular, you know.” Kei tried really hard not roll his eyes at that, but even with his heart trying to beat itself off his chest he couldn’t stop himself.

It got him a small smile from Kuroo before he continued. “I’m not trying to be a douche but there’s always somewhere I could be. I just don’t want to be there if I could be here. I like it when we just stay here snarking at each other so I just kept saying I had nothing to do. Also, Bo has never in his life kicked me out. I said that because I thought needed a reason to be here other than I really really like spending time with you.”

Kuroo’s cheeks were red now, the stain now not coming from the chill but from his admission. “I don’t know if what you said was a reflex or a mistake. But I was freezing my balls off outside and all I could think about how much I wanted to hear you say it again.”

Kuroo put the mug on the table and reached out to loosen Tsukki’s hands from where they had tangled in his shirt.He held them carefully, running his thumbs over his knuckles.

“I’m sorry I put so much into hiding what I feel that I missed how you look at me. I’m sorry–so, so sorry—that I came up with excuses instead of showing you how much I like you, and that I made you feel so scared to tell me; You can tell me anything, always. So please stop looking like you’re so terrified you could cry. Please.”

At that, he realised how watery his eyes were, how much the burning had intensified.

The contrast between tan and pale skin where Kuroo held his hands was enthralling. He was held like he was precious and Tsukki swore he must’ve fallen asleep on the toilet after the call with Tadashi and certainly he would wake up alone, with a crick in his neck and with heartbreak waiting at the door.

This wasn’t real. No way.

Kuroo’s hands squeezed his, bringing him back and telling him that yes, this is happening.

Kuroo’s voice was steady and soft, meant just for the two of them. He felt it wrap around him, easing the last of the dread in the pit of his stomach and replacing with warmth. Their hands were intertwined together now and it felt like home.

“I can’t pretend that I don’t want you loving me to be real, so let’s not. I can’t keep pretending I don’t love you, so I won’t. I want mine and I want that to be you.”

It took him a moment to be able to say anything. 

“Tch.You’re so embarrassing.” It still came out watery, but he wasn’t afraid anymore.

Kuroo laughed at that and the spell was broken. They were them again, like always. The tension eased out of the room. “You still love me, though...right?”

Kuroo tone was teasing but there was something else there, too. After that admission, anyone would be vulnerable and Tsukki’s earlier confession really wouldn’t be that comforting right now.He took a deep breath

_I can be embarrassing too, I guess._

“I... I had a crush on you in highschool.We really didn’t talk much after training camp and I’ve had a”—Tsukki coughed, red tinging his cheeks—”couple of boyfriends since then, but I saw you and it’s like I was 16 again. But, it’s better now because I got to actually know you and realise you’re a complete and utter dork that sends me chemistry pick up lines, and calls me to wake me up when I need to get up early, and has matching pj’s with his sister and Kenma. You’re a nerd and I love you.”

The embarrasment had faded now that he realised he could say this. He could tell Kuroo he loved him and all it would get him was one of those smiles, like the one on his face right now, that made him melt inside.

“Tsukiiiiiii”

That was all the warning he got before he was jerked into the couch, landing in Kuroo’s lap. The raven quickly rearranged them so that they lay comfortably, with Tsukki’s legs over Kuroo’s and stretched out on the couch. They stayed there, quiet for a moment.

Kei burrowed into him, the exhaustion of the day catching up with him again. Kuroo’s arm went around him and pressed him close, lending his chest as a pillow. He felt the rumble of his voice in the cheek pressed against his chest, “Hey, I get to do this now.”

Kei hummed an agreement, Kuroo lulling him to sleep. “Please do.”

“Wait, what about your lab?”, Tsukki slurred when his vision was edged with black.

There was a sigh from above him, “I’ll figure it out.”

And if they woke up later, warm and tangled up in each other and decided that everything else could wait, no one needed to know.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! This is finally done! So are my vacations so it feels nice to not have it carry over.
> 
> I don't know how I feel about this but I kind of want to keep writing for this particular set of dorks, so I'll probably turn this into a series. I also want to write the BokuAka for this? So many things to do.
> 
> Anyway, thank you for reading so far and let me know what you think! You can come yell at me in twitter @ivyfics so that I get my butt into gear and write more. 
> 
> Thank you all for your lovely comments and kudos <3

**Author's Note:**

> [Kuroo's mug](https://ae01.alicdn.com/kf/HTB1XanaOVXXXXa6XpXXq6xXFXXXY/1Pcs-set-Kawaii-Coffee-Cup-font-b-Black-b-font-font-b-Cat-b-font-Animal.jpg)   
>  [Tuskki's mug](http://www.peaydesigns.com/images/Waechtersbach%20-%20Coffee%20Mug%20-%20Dinosaurs%20-%20Blue.jpg)


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